Live Review: Bleu @ Elbo Room 8/10/06

Well, two years later and the fire is still hot. Bleu with his comrades The Everyday Visuals, stopped off to deliver the goods at the Elbo Room last night. After a quick set by The Everyday Visuals, who have a snappy pop rock sound that is very complimentary to Bleu, he launched a 12 song set that included songs off his two LPs Headroom and Redhead as well as some yet to be released material.

The muppet of a man with large mutton chops kicked off the night with a new song, "Boy Meets Girl", a quirky Jack and Diane-esque track that displays a bit of his sense of humor, "its like Twisted Sister meets Mister Mister...its like Jesus Jones and The Rolling Stones in a game of twister." Followed up with one of my personal favorites "Watchin' You Sleep", this sweet urban lullaby makes stalking seem like a completely acceptable way to meet someone. Bleu's voice is truly remarkable, hovering in his upper register and sliding up to a beautiful falsetto wherever possible. One of the many songs that showcased his vocal abilities was the track "Go", which he co-wrote with Zac Hanson. "Go" is such a great song that can send shivers down your spine in all of it's pristine expansiveness. Though many have catergorized Bleu as powerpop, with influences and comparisons ranging from Elvis Costello to Jellyfish, he showed off a little bit of his soul side, with two new songs "I Won't Fuck You Over This Time", and "Kiss Me". Channeling James Brown, he literally jumped off the stage with mic in hand and sought out a few girls to serenade, as he belted out "kiss me, kiss me" and letting out Prince-like "ooo's" and "oh's" with amazing dexterity.

One of the truly inspiring moments of the night, was when he requested utter silence for "The Penguin Song", a short ditty he penned for his girlfriend played on a mini acoustic guitar with no amplifier and sung with no mic, reminiscent of an early Beatles tune.

The night ended with an unplanned encore of "Trust Me", still worn out after "Kiss Me", he got lost on the lyrics a couple times, and invited everyone up on stage to sing back up on the "na-na's", it was like a family reunion of sorts, or a make shift Get Up Choir. Overall, it was a pretty spectacular outing, seeing the new songs live definitely made the prospect of his new album A Watched Pot all the more enticing.


Setlist:

Boy Meets Girl
Watchin' You Sleep
3's A Charm
We'll Do It All Again
Go
I Won't Fuck You Over This Time
I Won't Go Hollywood
Penguin Song
Somebody Else
Get Up
Kiss Me

Encore:
Trust Me